Sabatier principle for rationalizing enzymatic hydrolysis of a synthetic polyester

Abstract

Interfacial enzyme reactions are common in nature and in industrial settings, including the enzymatic 13 deconstruction of poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) waste. Kinetic descriptions of PET hydrolases are 14 necessary for both comparative analyses, discussions of structure-function relations and rational 15 optimization of technical processes. We investigated whether the Sabatier principle could be used for 16 this purpose. Specifically, we compared the kinetics of two well-known PET hydrolases, leaf-branch 17 compost cutinase (LCC) and a cutinase from the bacterium T. fusca (TfC) when adding different 18 concentrations of the surfactant cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB). We found that CTAB 19 consistently lowered the strength of enzyme-PET interactions, while its effect on enzymatic turnover 20 was strongly biphasic.